Uro Substrate

[Xeikeness]

Ok, well, I've got yet another issue I need help with.

My Mali Uromastyx is currently on white proso millet, which everyone says is the best.

Crushed walnut = impaction
Sand of any variety = impaction
Aspen = not natural enough
Soil = too wet/too dusty if dry
White proso millet = thank the gods it's one we can use!!!

However.

Millet keeps getting stuck under my Uro's lip when he eats, and he won't eat outside of his tank, and he won't eat on a towel in his tank, but we do feed him from a wide blue dish that he likes. I only see him once a week, because he lives with my fiancee, not myself. However, today I pulled him out to clean his femoral pores and smooch on him a bit, when I noticed his lip looked a bit puffy.

So, I looked and stuff was stuck under it so I pulled the stuff out(A peice of millet and lots of green goo.) and discovered that he now has what appears to be mouth rot. Looks exactly like the early stages of mouth rot. Bright red in a tiny area, sensitive, swollen, and oozing every so slightly.

I'm sick of white proso millet, now.

What can I give him as substrate that won't hurt him?!

[Adrya]

Try a clay substrate?

Product Listing -

[Drache613]

Hello,

Well, I don't have a Uro, but know several people who do. They recommend play sand, quartz sand, a sand & clay mix, or a sand-clay & gravel mix. That seems to be the preferred one because they are built very sturdy & like to dig & burrow as you know.
As far as the mouth rot, good grief!! Does your boyfriend forget to look over him? ( That needs to be taken care of before it becomes a systemic infection. Get some betadine & dilute it & dip it in a swab to clean out the mouth really well. Get the debris & any dead tissue swabbed out so it doesn't sit there & rot more. Get some nolvasan cream to put on it after cleaning & you can use a swab for that also.
Are his temps up to par & is he keeping him dry too? He must have injured his mouth on the millet possibly, I don't know. If that mouthrot goes too far, it will kill him eventually.
Let me know how he is doing.

Tracie

[Xeikeness]

Woohoo! No panicking. :P

It's a -tiny- case of moutrot. Just barely beginning, and he's going to the vet tomorrow, after my math final, and after my own doctor's appointment. Will does in fact look him over, every day, while handling him. He's noticed the slightly swollen lip, and he regularly removes detritus from Mace(the uro)'s lip. He just didn't know how to notice the start of an infection.

But, it is all being handled ina timely and efficient fashion. I just needed to know what substrate would be safe for this little guy, because I'm NOT putting him back on millet. Period.

[Adrya]

Clay might be dusty, but clay is your best bet because its tiny particles and good for diggin'...

Good luck with your lil' bugger.

[John_E_Dove]

I have had a couple of Mali rescues and always keep them on alfafa pellets. Edible and digestable but you have to be sure to keep the urates and poo cleaned out or the moisture will cause mold in the pellets.